Hess is quite the institution here in Taiwan. Literally - an institution. And like institutions - has guidelines and regulations that some unsuspecting wide eye will deem as being excessive or over-bearing.

Now, I know people who have happy little lives living in that controlled situation. And then again, I know those who were "not renewed" for another year because they didn't play the Hess game 24/7/365.

It comes down to your personality and what you are willing to work for / accept for the salary. If you're coming to Taiwan - hoping to make a few bucks in a bad economy and sample the wares of the local female stock - then Hess is something you probably won't enjoy. However, if you're a solid team player, enjoy meeting parents as the token foreigner and singing Jingle Bells until you projectile vomit mistletoe - then sign up today!

Oh and if you do - DO NOT take the "emergency loan" that they offer wide eyes when they first come here, you'd get better interest rates from a loan shark.

Yea, regarding Hess, I was interviewed by them and was told it would take about 60 to 90 minutes, yet was kept on the phone for over 2 hours answering redundant questions and anything you can think of. I was fuming and irritated about 3/4 of the way through. I realized after the interview that this kind of job just wasn't for me even though they wanted me to do another interview with them soon after that. They could also ask you to give examples out-of-the-blue without adequate warning/preparation. Based on my experience, unless you are just plain desperate for any job, don't go anywhere near them.

It comes down to your personality and what you are willing to work for / accept for the salary. If you're coming to Taiwan - hoping to make a few bucks in a bad economy and sample the wares of the local female stock - then Hess is something you probably won't enjoy. However, if you're a solid team player, enjoy meeting parents as the token foreigner and singing Jingle Bells until you projectile vomit mistletoe - then sign up today!

EEEEWWWW!! If Hess plays that game, then this homey don't play dat!! No wonder teachers in Asia are called "trained monkeys" We do have lives outside the classroom, but some companies refuse to recognize this .

I worked at Hess my first year in Taiwan and had no complaints. I worked at three different branches every week for the whole year, and they were all fine. I always read a lot of negative things about Hess, and I'm sure people have their reasons, but I think there are also a lot of folks out there like myself who had a good experience at Hess. The only difference is that people who have positive experiences with their school tend not to start posts about them on ESL forums. Just my two cents.

"We do have lives outside the classroom, but some companies refuse to recognize this ."

rofl, this is a very immature attitude. Your life outside the company is not their concern. By being hired to Hess, or any other business at home or abroad, you take on a responsibility to be at work on time and in condition to do your job properly. Your lifestyle outside of work is your business but if it presents problems with doing your job, you should of course be fired. Time to grow up. I have a feeling you'll be posting a lot of negative responses about a lot of business in your lifetime.

A good resource to go snooping around on your potential employer is glassdoor.com. The website compiles employee reviews, job descriptions, salaries, and interview experiences, which can really give you a good idea of what you're up against. Of course, only major employers with lots of workers get reviewed, but look: Hess has 7 reviews on glassdoor already:

For what itís worth, of the twenty of so foreign teachers that I worked with at Hess, around ĺ of them had been there for more than one year or had signed on for a second year after I left. Now, donít get me wrong, Iím not saying these people went around the office telling everyone how much they love Hess, but from what I could tell they seemed relatively happy with their jobs and appeared to care about their students. But there were two or three teachers who disliked the company and let you know about it. From what I remember, the biggest complaint was about grading homework, which I never really understood. I mean, youíre their teacher, who else is supposed to grade it? Most of the teachers would just chat and grade their homework before heading home. It was no big deal. It doesn't take that long.

Anyhow, I guess what Iím trying to say is that like most jobs, itís what you make of it. The two or three people who were having a negative experience at Hess were working at the same branches as the people who were having a positive experience.

I can understand why experienced teachers might not want to work at Hess since they donít allow for a lot of creative freedom in the classroom, but for new teachers with no experience, in my opinion, it can be a good option.